The instant invention relates to mailing machines, and more particularly to a feeding system in a mailing machine for handling mail envelopes of varying size and thickness.
State of the art mailing machines can perform such automatic functions as handling mail of different sizes and thicknesses, envelope sealing, mail weighing, mail stamping and mail sorting. The typical processing sequence starts at the front end of the machine where the mail is stacked. The stacked mail is then registered against a reference wall of the machine and the next step in the process is to feed the mail to a singulator to remote individual mail pieces from the bottom of the stack and thereafter process those individual mail pieces seriatim through the various modules of the machine.
Special problems arise when the mail to be handled is mixed mail, meaning envelopes containing inserts that have their flaps sealed, or closed but unsealed, or open. The problems intensify when an added requirement is the ability to process envelopes of varying sizes, for example from thin air mail with a single insert up to thicknesses of about half an inch.
Prior art mixed mail feeding devices have employed belts to feed and singulate the stack of mixed mail. Located above the feeding belt is a singulating device in the form of a restraint belt system for holding back the pieces of mail sitting on top of the lowermost piece of mail which is to be singulated through the singulator for further processing. However, a feeding belt system is expensive and complex and requires significant motor power to run and consumes a significant amount of length in the path of the mailing machine.
Accordingly, the instant invention provides a mixed mail feeding device which is considerably less expensive than a belt feeding system, requires less motor power to run than a belt system, and has a shorter path than a belt feeding system.